Brooks Bandits defenceman Cale Makar (Calgary) has been ranked 10th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s midterm rankings for the 2017 NHL Draft, released today.

It’s the highest ranking for Makar on the season and highest for any player in the history of the Brooks Bandits. Makar was previously rated an “A” prospect, indicating a potential first-round draft pick. He is the second-highest ranked defenceman among North American skaters.

If selected in the first round, Makar would become just the fourth player in Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) history to be selected in the first round, after Brent Sutter in 1980, Joe Colborne in 2008, and Dylan Olsen in 2009.

Makar, 18, leads all AJHL defencemen in scoring and ranks 8th overall in the league with 48 points (14 goals, 34 assists) in 36 games played. He most recently captained Team Canada West at the annual World Junior A Challenge tournament.

Last season, Makar was named both Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and AJHL Rookie of the Year after scoring 55 points (10 goals, 45 assists) in 54 games in his first full junior campaign, and collected a variety of post-season hardware including the Most Valuable Player award at the 2017 RBC Cup national championship tournament. He is committed to the NCAA Division I University of Massachusetts.